Gastrointestinal Foreign Bodies : Reviewof 118 Cases

Park, Soon Min; Chung, Myung Sun; Choi, Ju Yun; Yoon, Jong Goo; Kim, Sung Soo; Chae, Hiun Suk; Choi, Myung Kyu; Kim, Jae Kwang; Han, Nam Ik; Choi, Kyu Yong; Han, Sok Won; Sun, Hee Sik

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Most of foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract are passed spontaneously, bu 10-20% of those needs treatment. We evaluated the role of endoscopy for removal of foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract.
METHODS
We investigated retrospectively 118 cases with foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract. They had been treated at Holy Family Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, from January, 1990 through December, 1996.
RESULTS
The age ranged from 3 month to 78 years. Patients under 15 years were 76 cases and male was more prevalent than female (M:F= 1.68:1). Half (59 cases) of the patients had no symptom. Two most common foreign bodies were coins (45 cases) and sharp materials (18 cases) in children, while gastric bezoars (15 cases) and bones (10 cases) in adults. The most common location was esophagus (61 cases). In eighty-eight cases (74.6%), foreign bodies were removed by rigid or flexible endoscopy or anoscopy.
CONCLUSIONS
Rigid and flexible endoscopy are useful tools for removal of foreign bodies in the gastrointestina tract.